A|I: The AI Times – Amazon’s AI flywheel

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The infrastructure Canada has created for AI research is at the top of its class, but needs maintenance to remain that way, says an executive who left both New York City and Silicon Valley to work at Toronto’s Integrate.ai.

Rubikloud is in the business of helping retailers migrate legacy data onto the cloud, and using that data to automate decision-making on promotions across stores, loyalty marketing, and mass promotional planning.

Loris.ai, which aims to help companies navigate conversations around harassment and other charged topics, raised the funding from Floodgate with participation from LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, Kapor Capital, and others.

Amazon has a powerful AI flywheel, where machine-learning innovations in one part of the company fuel the efforts of other teams, who in turn can build products or offer services to affect other groups, or even the company at large.

Can a computer write a great novel, paint a masterpiece? Not yet, but algorithms are beginning to prove very helpful in humanity’s quest for creativity. And it won’t be long, some predict, before they’re making that quest on their own.

The new endowed research chair will be given full academic freedom to explore any interest that could advance the field of artificial intelligence, with the lab hoping its offer will attract a senior researcher with international renown.

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Amira Zubairi is a staff writer and content creator at BetaKit with a strong interest in Canadian startup, business, and legal tech news. In her free time, Amira indulges in baking desserts, working out, and watching legal shows.